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Summary of the impact

Professor Hutchinson's team has pursued research into movement of large
land animals, and how
they have evolved under biomechanical constraints, such as gravity, which
dominate their
lifestyles. Their findings relating to elephants and to dinosaurs,
applying physics, maths and
computer science to study the natural world, have captured the public's
imagination through a
variety of engagement activities. The work has contributed to several
major documentaries and
interactive museum exhibits, (with Professor Hutchinson consulting), as
well as featuring in a
substantial number of print and online news stories. The research has had
practical applications in
foot health and welfare of elephants in captivity and, through examining
constraints of growth on
anatomy, has also led to applications in health of broiler chickens.

Underpinning research

Biomechanics research was established at the RVC in 1980s under Lance
Lanyon (Professor of
Veterinary Anatomy from 1984 and Principal from 1989) and his research on
the adaptive
responses of the skeleton to strain. The appointment in 1996, of
Professors Alan Wilson (Lecturer
in Physiology, then Senior Lecturer, progressing to Chair in Locomotion
Biomechanics) and Allen
Goodship, (Chair in Orthopaedic Sciences; Emeritus since 2011), developed
this field to consider
an integrated approach to musculoskeletal function in domestic animals.
Strategic appointments in
2003 added evolutionary biology, scaling and greater depth in computer
modelling, engineering
and mathematical approaches to study the constraints size puts on
locomotion. John Hutchinson
was a key appointment (as Lecturer in, and since 2011, Professor of,
Evolutionary Biomechanics).
His research has provided fundamental insights into how giant land animals
stand and move, and
how gravitational constraints increasingly come to dominate the form and
function of land animals
as body size increases. At giant size, animals such as elephants can no
longer do activities that
smaller animals can, such as jumping or galloping. However, they are not
restricted simply to slow
walking, either, as his research has shown. Hutchinson's team showed that
African and Asian
elephants move similarly at all ages and sizes and are restricted to
speeds <25 kph (15mph),
showing hints of a bouncing kind of run (without leaving the ground) at
faster speeds [1]. In 2010,
he followed up this research by conducting ground breaking experiments
with elephants in
Thailand, using motion capture and multiple force platforms. Unlike any
other animals, elephants at
all speeds use their limbs similarly to the wheels of a 4WD vehicle,
sharing the roles of braking and
propulsion equally rather than dividing those roles between the fore and
hind limbs respectively.
This unique mechanism seems to give them a smoother `ride' that keeps limb
forces low, making
their slow walking quite efficient [2].

Hutchinson has also applied modern biomechanical techniques to
understanding the behaviour
and evolution of extinct animals. In 2009 he was the senior author on two
influential studies using
the techniques he had pioneered to study dinosaur locomotion. These
studies showed that bipedal
dinosaurs probably had metabolic costs of locomotion that were too high to
be fuelled by an
ectothermic ("cold-blooded") metabolism, and that even giant dinosaurs
such as Tyrannosaurus
rex might have been able to move at slow running speeds in a rather
crouched posture, but were
not fast runners like modern racehorses as some palaeontologists have
argued [3,4]. In 2011 he
showed how different parts of the body of Tyrannosaurus grew as
the animal increased its size by
tenfold, revealing that it grew about twice as fast as previously
estimated and had some of the
largest leg muscles known for any animal, extinct or extant, which made
the smaller and younger
individuals particularly adept at running when compared to their giant
relatives [5].

The work has implications for fast growing domestic animals where growth
rate places significant
strains on their skeleton and leads to health and welfare problems. A CASE
studentship supported
by Cobb-Vantress Inc, a major chicken breeding company, started to address
these issues [6], with
a substantial BBSRC funded research now exploring constraints on
locomotion and breathing in
broiler chickens, with University of Manchester colleagues.

Other Quality Indicators

Over £3 million research funding since 2004, including grants from BBSRC,
NERC, Royal Society,
and Leverhulme Trust. Hutchinson was appointed to a Royal Society
Leverhulme Trust Senior
Research Fellowship 2012-13.

Details of the impact

Hutchinson has actively engaged in a range of activities directed towards
public interest in and
understanding of science, to ensure active translation of his research
across an array of topics and
techniques. The public is widely receptive to the extinct and/or highly
appealing animals such as
dinosaurs and elephants that this research features, as well as the
cutting-edge technologies such
as 3D computer modelling, biomechanics, motion capture and medical imaging
involved. The work
has inspired or informed international television documentaries and two
major museum exhibits
since 2008, delivering wide reach across Europe and North America.

The "Inside Nature's Giants" documentary series, first screened on
Channel 4 in 2009, had 1.2-2
million viewers per episode in the UK, and won the 2010 BAFTA award in the
Specialist Factual
category [a]. The National Geographic channel also bought the series,
increasing the potential
reach to 160 million homes in 143 countries. Hutchinson was a consultant
for the programme,
editing scripts and providing 60 hours of paid scientific/technical
expertise as well as appearing
onscreen in 2 episodes and giving acknowledged input on the website
content. His invitation to act
as a consultant on this production was a direct result of the scientific
publications on elephant
locomotion and his personal interactions with zoos and elephant keepers
during the research.
Three further series have followed, with episodes broadcast on PBS in the
USA in 2012. Since
2011, a book, DVDs and iPad App have been sold based on the programmes.

The RVC research was featured in the "Dino Gangs" documentary on
the Discovery Channel,
which aired worldwide, with the work on theropod growth and speed also
referenced in the
accompanying book [b]. Other programmes covering the team's work include "Evolutions"
(National Geographic, 2008), "Raw Anatomy" (National Geographic
Channel, 2009) and `How to
build a Dinosaur" (BBC4, 2011) [c].

Hutchinson's expertise and publications in the field of dinosaur
locomotion have led to
contributions to the design of interactive exhibits produced for extensive
museum tours. He was
the Chief Palaeontology Advisor, providing the main quality control on
scientific evidence, for the
`Be The Dinosaur' travelling museum exhibit, which includes an
immersive multi-player video
experience, and which has toured 25 museums in the USA and Canada since
2008. Testimonials
on the website of the exhibit's creators include museum curators reporting
increased attendance
("We had a 9% increase in attendance over the previous summer while
many other Museums in
our State experienced a drop in attendance over the same timeframe."
Executive Director, Mid-America
Science Museum), together with visitor enthusiasm ("...this exhibit
was a huge hit with
both kids and adults, resulting in a noticeable increase in attendance."
Vice-President of Exhibits
and Operations, The Children's Museum of the Upstate). Testimonials also
commented on quality
content ("... engaging interactive technology, a wealth of scientific
information collected by experts
in the field of Paleontology, and an unforgettable learning experience."
Marketing and Exhibits
Manager, ETSU/Gen) and positive educational value ("The educational
content was superb and
the best part was that young and old alike learned about science in a
hands-on way." Director of
Education, "Queen of Discovery", GWIZ —; The Science Museum) [d].

The RVC research on giant animals was explained and featured prominently
as part of a second
travelling museum exhibit, "Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries",
which has attracted
approximately 1.5 million visitors spread across 10 museums on two
continents since 2008 [e].
The writer/producer from the American Museum of Natural History, who
produced the `Walking
with T. rex' video within the exhibition, commented: "The
exhibition demonstrates to visitors that
scientists are still debating and arguing about evidence ...Theropod
Biomechanics, utilizing
Professor Hutchinson's research findings, is an integral section of the
exhibition... YouTube video
of the `walking' mechanical T. rex from the exhibition has been posted
by a member of the public,
receiving 8,700 views [9,500 by 7/13], with written commentary and
comments indicating real
engagement with the science." [f]

Hutchinson is regularly directly involved at RVC in engagement with the
public and, especially,
school-age audiences: e.g. He presented his research to 30 Year-10
students (mostly black and
minority ethnic and all from lower socio-economic groups) at the RVC in
July 2011. In feedback
given by them after their visit, 100% said they aimed to attend university
and that this Summer
School session had strengthened this attitude [g].

In 2012, Hutchinson's nomination to deliver the Charles Darwin Award
lecture at the British
Science Festival in Aberdeen was successful [h]. The lecture theatre was
fully booked (250
attendees) for the highly interactive presentation (incorporating the Be
The Dinosaur simulation),
with many visitors staying on to ask questions and examine specimens, plus
subsequent
discussion via Twitter. All feedback responses rated the event `good' or
`excellent, with a good
level of understanding regarding overall research results [i].

The research has received extensive media coverage [j] and Hutchinson is
also highly active via
social media — blog and twitter — to promote discussion of his research
[k]. Views of the `What's in
John's Freezers' blog average 100-200 per day, and peaked at 10,564
in April 2012, after posting
stills from the Inside Nature's Giants footage of elephant
dissection [l].

The `Chicken of the Future' website and blog discusses the current
research project addressing
health problems of broilers [m]. The project has in-kind support from
Cobb-Vantress, the world's
leading broiler breeding business, and follows pilot studies supported by
the company, in a CASE
studentship on how the biomechanics of fast growing birds leads to leg
health problems.

The Director of Global Animal Welfare at Cobb-Vantress Inc. commented: ".
When we were
introduced to Professor John Hutchinson's research on Tyrannosaurus
growth and movement, we
made an unexpected connection to our commercial concerns in
bird-rearing. The limbs of the
dinosaur and chicken have remarkable resemblance and although they
differ vastly in scale, their
growth from hatching to mature size may be subject to similar
stresses... we hope this will
ultimately contribute to solutions for opportunities in continuous
improvement in the health and
well-being of broilers and broiler breeders in the global poultry
industry, while also providing
enhanced economic benefits for producers." [n]

Since 2005, Hutchinson has been working with a number of zoos and safari
parks in order to
improve management of elephants in captivity. The Curator of Colchester
Zoo commented:
"RVC's research into the locomotion of large animals has underpinned
our studies... Intractable
problems of foot health have been one of the most common causes of death
and euthanasia for
elephants in captivity. Over 70 elephants are kept ... in the UK and
Ireland, and Defra has
commissioned research into the welfare, housing and husbandry of the UK
population. If zoos and
safari parks do not improve their conditions for elephants, they risk
losing them altogether... Our
collaboration has led to ways of monitoring gait for abnormalities that
may indicate discomfort from
infection, disease or damage at the earliest stage and so assist in
addressing these problems
promptly... These methods of gait analysis and foot inspection are now
becoming standardised
and are being disseminated as best practice across the zoological
community internationally." [o]